Conventional seating arrangements for occupational environments such as offices and schools provide a seating position where an angle of 90° increasing the pressure on the spinal column and resulting in a poor working environment where strain injuries, back pain are increasingly common. Seating which encourages movement and improved posture with a higher sitting position is therefore desirable.
WO 96/10937 discloses a chair seat and a chair made with this chair seat in which a chair seat is divided into several parts, comprising a part being fixed and a pivoting part where the pivoting part may pivot down from a starting position around a crossing axis, against an elastic counter force, enabling a change of the sitting position by having the user change the angle of their hips. This creates a chair seat and chair allowing the user to vary the positions of sitting and at the same time having support when seated with the lower part of the body in different positions.
A drawback with this arrangement is that the slits on the seat means that the users legs are susceptible to a rather inconvenient pinch effect both when sitting on and when getting off the chair. The legs of the subject are not in any way directed apart and to the side of the seat pan making the seat of this invention uncomfortable for the user. In addition, the hinged effect depends on a live hinge for achieving the flexibility required.
In EP1319353 a task chair including seat supporting structure and a seat supported by the seat structure and having a seating surface which may ergonomically conform to a seated user is disclosed. The seating surface includes rigid and flexible portions connected to one another, the flexible portions allowing resilient flexing of the seating surface to create conformance zones which dynamically support a seated user in an ergonomic manner.
However this seat conforms to the seated user rather than encouraging the user to adopt a seating position promoting good posture. Additionally it is only suitable for use in a standard seating position. The seat is manufactured from multiple components such as wood, metal or plastic and the flexible portions formed from pliable urethane or silicon. The portions are connected by insert moulding the flexible portions to the rigid portions or by mechanically or adhesively joining the flexible portions to the rigid portions.
Ergonomically a higher seating position is preferable as it encourages a spinal position similar to that achieved when standing.
WO8301184 discloses a stool with a support means and a flexible sitting surface where the support means comprises a frame with a front part bent to an approximately inverted U-shape and a back frame part being straight or slightly curved. A net is stretched over the pre-bent frame to provide a seat.
Therefore, there is a requirement for a low cost seat manufactured from a single material. In addition, it is also desirable to have a seat, which encourages the user to adopt a seating position which promotes good posture regardless of the desk style.